We report the structural, magnetic and electrical properties of new composition of spinel-type ZnNixCo2-xO4 (0.1 <= x <= 0.6) nano-particles. The X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies reveal that the ZnNixCo2-xO4 nano-crystals show pure cubic spinal for all compositions wherein Co ions are systematically replaced by Ni ions. The electron microscopic studies reveal the nanoparticle sizes are of well-defined spherical shape and the magnetometry studies show superparamagnetic like behaviour with smaller values of coercive fields. The maximum dc conductivity at 30 degrees C is found to be 0.03 S/cm for ZnNi0.6Co1.4O4. Activation energies of dc conductivity obtained from Arrhenius plots are within the range of 0.12-0.35 eV for extrinsic and 0.13-0.78 eV for intrinsic regions and are affected by Ni concentration. Overall results suggest that these nano-particles are of high crystalline quality and electrical properties are dominated by holes as major charge carriers. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.